


Fix You

by WhiteHawkHarringrove



Series: All Through The Night [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Adoption, Bilingual, Everyone Needs A Hug, Fatherly Billy Hargrove, Fatherly Steve Harrington, French Characters, Grief/Mourning, Hurt Steve Harrington, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Protective Steve Harrington, Sad with a Happy Ending, Sibling Bonding, Steve is Bilingual
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-25 20:01:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16204652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteHawkHarringrove/pseuds/WhiteHawkHarringrove
Summary: Billy and Steve have been married for 4 months, something happens and now their life is flipped upside-down.





	1. The Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Billy get a call that they never wanted to

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some dialogue was taken from a sleeping at last song

Billy and Steve laid in bed. Steve was tucked into Billy's arms and the blond was kissing the scars on his husband's face. They had been married for almost 4 months now. 

“How're your ribs, babe?” Billy asked gently, knowing that Steve was still having troubles with them even though they were healed. Steve craned his neck to look and Billy and smiled.

“They're okay, don't worry,” Steve reassured him, pressing a soft kiss to his jaw. He laid his head on Billy's bare chest, nuzzling in closer.

“I love you so much, you know that?” Billy whispered the question into Steve's ear. Steve smiled against Billy's skin. “ I love the way you smile when you blush, and how you curl your lip when you're concentrating. I've loved you since I surrendered who I was for who you are.”

“I love you Mr. Harringrove,” Steve told Billy, it always gave him shivers when Steve used their new last name. Billy pressed his lips to Steve's hungrily, rolling on top of Steve. 

They both sighed when the phone rang, Steve playfully pushed Billy off, causing the blond to flop down beside him.

“I'll get it, it's probably one of the kids asking for a ride to god knows where,” Steve told Billy, getting up and throwing on the pair of jeans beside their bed; they hadn't gotten to fixing the heater yet and it was freezing. He fiddled with Billy's necklace that was currently around his own neck as he picked up the phone.

“This is Steve,” The brunet said into the phone. Steve frowned when he heard a soft sobbing on the other end.

“S-Steve? It-It's D-Dustin,” Steve heard the curly haired teen cry into the phone. A million scenarios flew through Steve's head, afraid to know what was wrong. 

“Dusty? What's wrong, kiddo?” Steve asked somewhat frantically. He almost jumped when he felt his husband's hand on his shoulder, he turned to see a concerned look etched onto Billy's face.

“It-It's my m-mom,” Dustin cried again, Steve's heart was filled with fear. What was wrong with Mrs. Henderson? She was fine the other day when newlywed couple went over for dinner.

“Dusty, you gotta tell me what happened, I can't read your mind,” Steve urged, grabbing Billy's hand desperately. There was a loud sob from the other end and Steve spoke to him in a soothing tone, “Hey, just breathe. Calm down and tell me.”

“She had a heart attack, I called 911 but it didn't come fast enough,” Dustin managed to get out. Steve's stomach sank.

“What are you trying to tell me Dusty?” Steve asked, his eyes welling with tears, he already knew the answer but he just couldn't believe it unless he heard those words. Billy rubbed a thumb over Steve's knuckles soothingly, still concerned. 

“She's dead Steve. She's dead... and I'm alone.”


	2. The Last Will and Testament Of Claudia Henderson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy almost Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians out there!

“What?” Steve replied in disbelief. His emotions quickly turned to concern. “Dusty, where are you?”

“I'm at the hospital, a woman is with me from social services I think,” Dustin told them, crying again.

“We'll be there as soon as we can, okay Dusty?” Steve told the heartbroken boy, trying not to cry as well. 

“Okay...” Dustin whispered and hung up. Steve turned to Billy and wrapped his arms around his waist, sobbing into his shoulder.

“Babe... what happened? What happened to Dustin?” Billy asked gently. Steve looked up, his brown eyes shining with tears.

“Claudia just died, Dustin is at the hospital with social services. We need to go,” Steve told Billy. Billy hadn't known Dustin's mom all that well but she had become like a mother to both him and Steve over the past few months, Steve had known her longer than Billy had.

Steve grabbed his keys with shaking hands and Billy wrapped an arm around him as they walked out to the car. Steve tried to put the key in the lock of the handle of the car but his hands were shaking too much, he aggressively wiped the tears from his eyes as he kept trying to unlock it. He grew increasingly more irritated the more he tried. 

He felt his husband's hands cover his gently and he attempted to shrug them off. Steve cried out in frustration as he tried to open the door.

“FUCK!” He finally screamed out, turning and throwing the keys to the ground. When he turned back, he drove his fist into the car window as hard as he could, causing the glass to fracture, but not break. He sunk to the ground, tears streaming down his face and holding his now bleeding fist close to his chest. “Fuck...”

Billy kneeled beside husband, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder, the other hand pushing hair out of Steve's face. The blond leaned forward, placing his forehead to the brunet's. 

“I know it hurts, Steve. Right now we have to be strong for Dustin, he needs us now more than ever,” Billy told Steve softly. The injured man nodded, wiping away the tears with his good hand. Billy took the injured hand in his own and gingerly looked it over.

“I'm okay,” Steve told Billy, getting up. Billy looked at him, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

“No, babe, no you're not, not right now,” Billy told Steve, picking up the car keys. Billy was trying his best to calm him down. “I'll drive, don't worry.”

“Thank you,” Steve told Billy, his husband knew what he meant. He knew Steve wasn't okay and he called him out, knowing his true feelings. He watched Steve get into the passenger seat, wiping his eyes quickly before getting into the drivers seat. The ride to the hospital was silent as Steve tried to regain his composure.

Steve sucked in a breath as they pulled up in front of the hospital. Billy put a hand on his shoulder to bring him out of the trance he seemed to be in.

“Why don't you go in, I'll go park the car,” Billy told Steve. His husband gave him a hint of a smile before walking inside, he had bandaged his knuckled loosely with some gauze he found in the first aid kit in his car. 

He saw Dustin sitting with a blond woman and walked over. Without a word, Dustin stood up and wrapped his arms around Steve, crying into his chest. Steve pulled the kid closer, attempting to bring him some comfort, but with what had just happened, he doubted it would help any. 

“Mr. Harringrove, I assume?” The woman asked. Steve nodded, still holding the crying kid. “I'm Mary Connahey, I'm the one handling Claudia Henderson's will. I was reading it over and it was written that in case something happened to her, Mrs Steve and William Harringrove will be appointed guardians of her son, Dustin Henderson and will gain all of her earthly possessions. Even though you have been appointed the guardians of him, you may still accept or deny.”

Steve's head spun with the new information. He looked down at the kid that was clinging to him and rubbed his back soothingly.

“Do you mind if I talk to my husband first?” Steve asked, still trying to wrap his head around it.


	3. Ange (Angel)

(Translations will be in the end notes)

Steve's eyes flew to the door when he heard it open. Billy walked quickly inside, eyes darting everywhere to try and find his husband.

“Dusty, I'm going to go have a little chat with Billy, are you okay here with Ms. Connahey for a minute?” Steve whispered to Dustin. The boy nodded slightly and detached himself from Steve. 

“Babe, what's going on? And don't tell me nothing because I can see it in your eyes,” Billy asked gently. Steve grabbed Billy's hand, pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

“We're Dustin's appointed guardians. I know it's a little sooner to take care of a kid than we thought but we have a room, it's even set up. I mean, we'll need to get a bigger bed eventually but everything is prepared,” Steve rambled on. Billy gave him a small smile.

“Of course we can take him in, he's already family,” Billy told Steve. Steve gave his husband a watery smile and a quick kiss then went back their ward. He gave Mary a smile.

“Can we take him home now?” Steve asked. The woman nodded, handing him a clipboard with a piece of paper.

“Just sign here, it is just verifying that you accept Dustin as your ward, your husband may also sign,” The woman told them. Billy came up behind Steve, taking the pen when he was done and scribbling his own name. “We will be contacting you in the next week when Mrs. Henderson's possessions are ready to be moved.”

“Thank you,” Steve told the woman, taking Dustin into his arms. “Let's go home, yeah?”

Dustin just stared as Steve walked him out to the car, Billy behind them with a hand on both of their shoulders. Dustin was silent on the ride back to the couple's house. When Mr. Harrington was arrested, all of his money and the house went to Steve. They had sold the house that had so many nightmares connected to it and bought a new one that was on the outskirts of the small town. 

Steve didn't know how he was holding it together, he was a mess on the inside but he kept his composure. Billy and Steve knew how it felt... it was hard losing a mother, though Steve's was a different circumstance. 

Billy pulled the car up in front of the Henderson home, Steve looked at Dustin through the rearview mirror, watching as tears silently fell down the boy's face. 

“Do you want me to come in with you while you get your things, Dusty?” Steve asked gently. The boy nodded slightly but continued to stay silent. They understood, when Steve's mom killed herself he didn't talk to anyone for almost a year. Billy's mom left when he was young, it hurt just as much as if she was dead. 

Steve followed Dustin into his house. The kid looked around, tears in his eyes. Steve put a hand on Dustin's shoulder, tears in his own eyes.

“I know, kiddo...I know...” Steve told him softly. “Shit, we need to tell the others! I'm going to use your phone, okay? I'm going to get them to meet us back at the house.”

Dustin nodded silently and walked in the direction of his room while Steve picked up the phone and dialed the number he knew off by heart.

“Hello?” A voice asked on the other line.

“Hey Joyce, we have something we need to talk about everyone. Can you bring the party over to my place? Hopper as well?” Steve asked, sniffling.

“I can do that. Why? What's wrong Steve?” Joyce asked, she had been like a mother to Billy and Steve and over the past few months, had gotten to know the couple very well. Joyce and Claudia were like their adopted mothers, and Hopper their adopted father.

“Dustin's mom just died. Please don't tell the kids yet, We need to tell them ourselves,” Steve told Joyce softly.

“Oh my god! Of course, honey. Whats going to happen to him? Is social services taking him? I always have the room if he needs it and-”

“He's staying with Billy and I. Claudia appointed us as his guardians in her will,” Steve told her. Joyce sighed, obviously still in shock.

“I'll pick up the kids and I'll be over as soon as I can. It'll be okay, sweetie. I love you,” Joyce told Steve softly.

“Love you too Maman,” Steve told Joyce. He always called Joyce mom now, though it was always in French because that was the first language he knew. Joyce had even learned a bit of French to help him. Steve was born in Provence, France and had moved to America when he was 10 and had to learn a whole new language. 

“Steve... Tu vas bien?” Joyce asked, Steve let a few tears slip down his face.

“Non, mais je serai,” Steve responded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tu vas bien?= Are you okay?  
> Non, mais je serai= No, but I will be


	4. Not Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get a glimpse into Steve's past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations in the end notes, if there are any errors in the translation please correct me

Steve hung up the phone and saw Dustin emerging from his room with a few bags of his stuff. He could see that the kid was clutching a photo in a frame. Steve approached the kid and wrapped his arms around him. Yes, Steve understood his silence...but it scared him to see the normally excited and happy kid go dead quiet.

“You ready to go, kiddo?” Steve asked gently. Dustin shook his head and Steve rubbed his back. “Take your time. How about when you're done we walk home and get some fresh air, yeah?”

Dustin nodded into Steve's shoulder. Steve turned to see Billy standing in the doorway. Steve detached Dustin gently, “I'll just be a minute, okay?”

Another nod and Steve walked over to Billy. 

“What do you want me to do?” Billy asked gently. Steve gave him a watery smile, Billy always understood him.

“Can you wait for the party at home? When Dustin is ready I'll walk him home, okay?” Steve muttered the questions to his husband. Billy nodded, giving him a quick kiss before heading out the door to their Trans Am, they sold the Camaro after the accident.

Steve sat down on the couch in the living room, looking around at all the pictures. He spotted his graduation photo on the bookshelf, Steve was giving Dustin a piggy back and Mrs. Henderson was just watched on fondly. 

There was another picture next to it of the same day, except all the kids were there and all of their adopted parents. Next was a picture of him and Billy at their graduation, they had both been held back a year so they graduated at 19, he could see the sparkle of their wedding rings in the picture.

The final picture on the shelf was on their wedding day, Steve and Billy were kissing in front of the entire crowd and there wasn't a single dry eye there.

Steve was brought out of his thoughts as Dustin joined him on the couch, curling into his side. Steve ran a hand through the kid's hair.

“It's not healthy to keep all your feelings bottled up, you know,” Steve told him gently. Dustin let out a whimper.

“I know, it just hurts so much,” Dustin whimpered, tears flowing from his eyes. Steve continued running his hands though the kid's hair.

“I know how you feel, kiddo... I know,” Steve whispered. Dustin turned his face to Steve, giving him a strange look.

“How would you know?” Dustin asked surprisingly gently. Steve sighed.

“My mom killed herself almost 4 years ago now. She overdosed on my medication then slit her wrists,” Steve told Dustin, when he told Billy about his mom when he was about to meet the same fate, he left out her wrists.

“Oh,” Dustin whispered.

“Yeah.” Was all Steve could say. He remembered that day like it was yesterday. 

\--------

“Maman, je suis la!” Steve called into the house as he got home from school. His family always spoke French at home, as not to lose the language.”Maman?”

Steve walked into the house, seeing his father on the couch. He approached him.

“Père, ou est maman?” Steve asked. His father didn't answer so he went around the couch to see that he was passed out with bottles and cans everywhere. “Of course you're fucking passed out drunk, why on earth would you possibly be sober?”

Steve still couldn't find his mom so he headed up the stairs.

“Maman? Es-tu ici?”Steve called out again, he tripped at the top of the stairs. He looked down to see a familiar orange bottle, he picked it up... empty. Steve was getting worried now. He looked up to see water coming from under the bathroom door, it was tinged red.

Steve tried to open the door but it was locked.

“Maman! Ouvre la porte! Š'il vous plaît, maman!” Steve cried, banging on the door with all his might. Eventually, he kicked it open with a bang as it hit the wall. 

The smell of blood was heavy in the air as he saw his mom in the tub, still fully dressed in her dress that she had work to work that day. Steve tried not to gag as he ran though the bloody water to the overflowing tub. He grabbed her wrists which she had split open with a razor, the weapon was still tight in her hand. 

Steve took it from her, cutting his hand in the process and threw it to the other side of the room. Lilli Harrington's eyes flickered open.

“Stevie, je suis désolé,” His mom told him weakly. Steve had tears streaming down his face as he turned to the open door.

“Papa! Téléphone l'ambulance!” Steve shouted. There was no answer. “Papa!”

“Je t'aime, mon belle garçon,” Lilli whispered, placing a bloody hand on Steve's face and closing her eyes, hand dropping with a splash.

“Non, non, non, non! Maman! Ouvrir ton yeux! Maman! Š'il vous plaît, maman!” Steve shouted, sobbing all the while,” Please mom, please wake up! Don't leave me here alone with him!”

\--------

“But King Steve doesn't need medication,” Dustin managed to tease. Steve let out a small chuckle, rolling his eyes.

“I had meds for my anxiety because, believe it or not, I had bad social anxiety as a kid. After I- my mom killed herself, I changed, became more arrogant, acted like I didn't care.” Steve told Dustin. The kid eyed him warily, noticing his slip up.

“You were about to say 'I' Steve, explain,” Dustin told him. Steve figured he owed the kid an explanation.

“The day my mom killed herself, she left the razor in the bathroom... I tried to follow her,” Steve told the kid, rolling up his sleeves to show the thick scars. Dustin gasped and his fingers ghosted over the scars. “See kid? I understand more than you think.”

“Steve, I think I'm ready to go home now,” Dustin told his guardian. Steve quickly rubbed his back one last time before they stood up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maman = Mom  
> Maman, je suis la! = Mom, I'm here!  
> Père, ou est maman? = Father, where is mom?  
> Maman? Es-tu ici? = Mom? Are you here/Are you up here?  
> Ouvre la porte! Š'il vous plaît, maman! = Open the door! Please, mom!  
> Stevie, je suis désolé = Stevie, I'm sorry  
> Papa! Téléphone l'ambulance! = Dad! Call the ambulance!  
> Je t'aime, mon belle garçon = I love you, my beautiful boy  
> Ouvrir ton yeux! = Open your eyes!


	5. Goodbye Is Not The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, translations in the end notes. 
> 
> P.S. the thing Steve tells Dustin about is actually a coping method that I developed.

The walk back to the house was mostly silent, when they saw Joyce's and Hopper's cars in the driveway, Steve stopped and turned to Dustin.

“Look, you don't have to talk to the rest of the party yet but please at least talk to Billy and I. We can talk for you today,” Steve told the kid. He nodded in agreement. Steve gave Dustin a quick hug as they approached the door and walked in. 

The kids immediately swarmed them, bombarding them with questions. Dustin backed up, overwhelmed, Steve sensed it and herded the kids into the room. The kids could feel that something was wrong, Dustin wasn't smiling like he usually was and Billy and Steve seemed unusually sad. 

Billy and Steve sat on the couch with Dustin between them. Steve sighed and ran a tired hand down his face.

“I'm sure you're wondering why we called you all here,” Steve started off, trying to figure out what to say to them. 

“What's wrong? Mrs. Byers called earlier and told us she was picking us up and said it was urgent,” Mike told the couple. Steve looked at him, tears in his eyes.

“We... we have some bad news,” Steve said, tears starting to spill from his eyes. The kids had never seen him cry... or Billy, who even let a few tears escape. “Dustin- I- it's-”

Billy reached over the back of the couch to put a hand on Steve's shoulder. Billy gave him a gentle smile, wordlessly telling him that he would explain.

“Dustin's mom had a heart attack last night... she didn't make it,” Billy told the kids. They sat there, now dead silent in shock. They all surrounded Dustin, pulling him into a hug. Steve felt his eyes water, it was amazing how these kids cared for each other in hard times. He wished he had had friends like them when his mom died. After a while, with small chatter about where Dustin was living and what would happen next, Hopper spoke.

“I'm sure it's been a long day, we should let Dustin get some rest,” The chief told them, ushering the kids out the door into the now dark outdoors. Joyce gave them a sympathetic half-smile as they exited the house. The guardians and their ward sat on the couch in silence for a few minutes, tears slipping from their eyes and rolling down their faces.

“Hey, how about we go to bed, yeah?” Billy asked. Dustin nodded, not saying a word, not because he didn't want to, but because he had nothing to say. “Okay, let's show you to your room.”

Dustin followed the couple up the stairs and into a room that had a small bed, there were books in the corner, posters on the walls and many little trinkets on different surfaces.

“Don't worry, we'll get you a bigger bed by the end of the week,” Steve told Dustin. 

“Thank you,” Dustin whispered, dropping his stuff by the door and walking over to the bed, sitting down. When he started to sob, Billy and Steve joined him on the bed, wrapping their arms around the boy who seemed to be so small.

“Talk to us kiddo,” Billy urged the scared kid, Dustin looked at them

“I miss her, it hurts so bad I feel like I can barely breathe. I'm never going to be able to come home to see her cooking in the kitchen, never going to hear her say 'I love you' again, never going to be able to talk to her again,” Dustin sobbed out, the couple could just barely hear him through the hiccuping cries. Steve ran his hand through Dustin's hair, causing him to look up at Steve's gentle smile. 

“Who says you can never speak to her again?” Steve asked. Billy was wondering what his husband was thinking.

“She's dead, I can't talk to her anymore,” Dustin said, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

“Now that's not quite true,” Steve told Dustin softly. The kid gave him a confused look. “After my mom died, I would look out to the sky.. and I would talk to her, to this day I still do sometimes.”

Billy was surprised when he heard his husband's statement. That would explain why he sometimes woke up to see Steve in the back yard, seemingly watching the stars and talking to himself. Now he knew the real reason... he was talking to his mom.

“What do I say?” Dustin asked. Steve sighed, looking out the window in wonder.

“That's the beauty of it. You can say anything you want, from school to relationships,” Steve told him. Dustin gave a small smile for the first time that day.

“Do you mind if I have some privacy?” Dustin asked, Billy and Steve stood up, giving him one last hug before leaving the room and closing the door.

“Hey Mom, I really miss you...” Steve could hear Dustin start as he walked away. Billy sat on their bed, waiting for Steve.

“Come with me.” Was the first thing Steve told Billy when he entered their room. He held out a hand and his husband took it. 

“Where are we going?” Billy asked. Steve just turned and smirked, leading him down the stairs and out into the backyard. He sat down on the grass and patted the spot next to him, gesturing for Billy to sit down. When he did, Steve took his hand and looked up at the clear night sky, filled with twinkling stars.

“Salut Maman. C'est Billy, mon mari. Je suis désolé que je n'ai pas présenté Billy a toi plus tôt,” Steve spoke, leaning against Billy and sinking into his side as if he'd done that his entire life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Salut Maman. C'est Billy, mon mari. = Hi Mom, This is Billy, my husband  
> Je suis désolé que je n'ai pas présenté Billy a toi plus tôt= I'm sorry I didn't introduce Billy to you earlier


End file.
